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American Account: Irwin Stelzer: Theres only one way for dollar to go  down

IT has been almost 50 years since the American government decided to emblazon “In God we trust” on the nation’s banknotes. That’s more comforting to some than “In markets we trust”, but somewhat less accurate now that the Bush administration has abandoned the “strong dollar” policy of his predecessor. If anything about the Bush administration’s economic policy is clear, it is that jobs are the No1 priority, the word “jobs” being the politic translation of the real priority, re-election of George W Bush.

The president faces a difficult campaign in which he is already being accused of destroying more jobs than Herbert Hoover, president during the onset of the Great Depression. In key states such as Ohio, Illinois and Michigan many voters are convinced that it is Bush’s fault that they are out of work because their jobs have been exported to China and other low-wage climes.